DUI arrests are sometimes made illegally

Drunk driving may be illegal, but that does not mean that all arrests made for driving under the influence actually fall within the law. There have been some fairly high-profile cases in which illegal arrests have been made.

For instance, one man claimed that the police used entrapment to arrest him. He knew that he was too drunk to drive, having gone to a concert. He decided that, rather than risk it, he’d just take a nap in his car. Officers then came over to his car and told him to drive, saying the parking lot had to be closed, so he started driving, was pulled over and got a DUI.

Another time, a man’s wife actually wanted to get him arrested and set up a scheme to make it happen. She worked with a police officer. They staged a business meeting that the man thought was real, gave him more drinks than he otherwise would have consumed, and sent him on his way. Once he was in the car, the police officer called other officers and told them to arrest him.

A third officer just decided to make bogus DUI arrests. He pulled over drivers who weren’t drunk, made the arrests and then kept the dash cam footage out of the reports so people wouldn’t know that he was actually arresting sober drivers. That officer eventually was caught, arrested and handed some felony charges for his actions.

While none of these things may have happened to you in exactly this way, it’s still important to know that an arrest may not be legal, and you need to know how to defend yourself in Colorado.